The invention relates to a new pod and method for making fluid comestibles such as coffee, espresso, herb, tea, milk, hot chocolate, latte, cappuccino or mocha. More particularly, the invention relates to a pod in which flavor-containing material such as coffee grounds or cocoa is sandwiched between two porous sheets and method for extracting or dissolving the flavor from the flavor-containing material in the pod.
Today, coffee and espresso arc generally made by adding loose coffee grounds into a filter and applying hot water to the grounds. In automatic drip coffeemakers, the water seeps through the grounds due to gravity, while in espresso machines the water is forced through grounds by pressure. One major issue with today""s method of making coffee and espresso is the messiness in handling of the loose coffee grounds.
The two known solutions to this messiness problem are coffee pods, which comprise a supply of coffee grounds sandwiched between two sheets of filter paper as shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b, and coffee cartridges or capsules, which comprise a supply of coffee grounds sealed in an aluminum foil or plastic container as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,768 to So, U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,335 to Fond et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,899 to Fond and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/748,495, pending, to the applicant. The coffee cartridge or capsule provides a good solution to the messiness problem, but it is costly to make and causes enviromental problem due to the disposal of the metal or plastic container materials in each cartridge or capsule.
The coffee pod (FIGS. 1a and 1b) also solve the messiness problem well, and is cheap to manufacture and do not create any environmental problem as the coffee cartridge or capsule does. However, the existing coffee pods do not work with conventional filter basket 27 (FIG. 2) as provided in current pump and steam espresso machines. There are two possible arrangements to fit the pill-shaped coffee pod 10 in the filter basket 27. The fist possible arrangement is to have the annular sealing seam 18 of the pod 10 supported by the annular rim 19 of the basket 27. This arrangement, although provides a good seal between the pod and pod holder, does not provide adequate support for the pod and will most likely cause the pod to be pushed into the basket by pressure above the pod during brewing process, thus breaking the seal. As a result, we noticed significant and unacceptable bypass of water through bypass channels formed between the sealing seam and the side wall of the filter basket. As expected, the resulting coffee or espresso was light-colored and watery.
The second possible arrangement (not shown) is to insert the pod 10 completely into the basket 27 until it reaches the bottom 20 of the basket. This arrangement does provide adequate support for the pod 10 by the bottom of the basket 27. However, significant water leak or bypass exists between the annular sealing seam 18 of pod 10 and the side wall 25 of the basket 27 due to the irregular spaces or channels formed by the interaction or squeezing of the annular sealing seam with the side wall 25 of the filter basket. In our tests, we noticed that the coffee coming out of the outlet 22 of the filter holder 29 had very light color and tasted more like water than coffee, which indicated that most water flowed through such irregular spaces or channels rather than through the coffee grounds 17 in the pod. Furthermore, the pod holder and pod were very wet and dripping after preparing the beverage, which would cause some messiness during disposal of the used pod.
As a result of such leak or bypass, special filter basket 27a and filter holder 29a (FIG. 3) are required to allow the consumers to make espresso or coffee with coffee pods. In such special filter holder (i.e. pod holder) 27a, a recessed part 19a of the rim 19 is dimensioned to receive and support the sealing seam 18. The bottom 20 of the filter holder 27a is shaped and dimensioned to fit lower half of the pod 10. To achieve sufficient seal between the bottom of the pod 10 and the bottom 20 of the filter holder 27a, the upper half of the pod 10 has to be pressed against the lower surface of the brew head in an espresso or coffee machine (not shown).
One drawback with such pod 10 and special filter basket 27a is that the special pod holder and basket holder add substantial cost to an espresso machine. As a result, most manufacturers do not provide such special filter basket and holder with their espresso machines. A second drawback is that most consumers find it cumbersome and confusing to have to use one set of holders for loose grounds and the other set of holders for coffee pods. This confusion and cumbersome is further increased by the fact that only one set of holders can be mounted to the machine at a time and the other set has to be pressed elsewhere in the kitchen. This also increases the chance for holders to get lost. A third drawback is that such special filter basket (or pod holder) 27a can not take two or more pods, which are desired by some consumers when they intend to make more than one cup of coffee or espresso drinks. A forth drawback with such special pod holder is that the used wet pod often sticks to the brew head rather than stays in the pod holder when the user remove the pod holder from the machine, which causes messiness and defeat at least some of the advantage of using coffee pod. A last drawback is the dripping and overflow of coffee that may occur when removing the pod holder from the machine since the pod holder 27a is too shallow, which causes messiness in the kitchen. These and other drawbacks are among the main reasons that prevent the popular use of coffee and espresso pods today.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a coffee pod that works with conventional filter baskets such as those for espresso machines.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a coffee pod that allows the user to stack two or more coffee pods in a filter basket or pod holder to make two or more cups of coffee or espresso at a time.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a coffee pod that solves the messiness problem of loose coffee grounds but does not causes other messiness issues in the kitchen.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a coffee pod that for making a better cup of coffee or espresso.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide consumers a low cost and environment friendly coffee pod.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a beverage pod for making hot milk or hot chocolate.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide beverage pod(s) for making a mixed or blended beverage such as latte, cappuccino, or mocha.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide beverage pod(s) that can be sufficiently dried and drip-free right after the preparing the beverage.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a method for using coffee pod to make a better cup of coffee or espresso.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a method for consumers to conveniently dispose the used coffee pod.
Still other objects will become apparent after reading the accompanying drawings and description. It should be understood that the invention could still be practiced without performing one or more of the objects set forth above.
Accordingly, the invention provides a pod for making coffee, espresso, hot chocolate, mocha, latte or the like. The pod comprises a first sheet of filtering paper having an open top end, a bottom and a substantially vertical side wall adapted to form a seal with the vertical side wall of a pod holder, a second sheet adapted to fit to or into the open top end of the first sheet to form a closed chamber between the sheets, a supply of flavor-containing materials in the closed chamber, and an annular sealing seam between the side wall of the first sheet and the second sheet. The sealing seam is adapted to prevent formation of bypass channels between the pod and the side wall of a pod holder, thereby causing all or nearly all the hot water introduced to the pod holder to pass through the flavor-containing materials in the closed chamber between the first and second sheets. In one embodiment of the invention, the second sheet comprises an open top end, a bottom, and a substantially vertical side wall. The substantially vertical side wall of the second sheet is dimensioned to fit into the open upper end and the upper part of the substantially vertical side wall of the first sheet to form the sealing seam between the substantially vertical side walls of the first and second sheets. To prevent deformation of the pod during handling, a rigid disc having about the same diameter as the bottom of the first sheet may be sandwiched between the first and second sheets.
In another embodiment of the invention, the pod further comprises a third sheet having an open top end, a bottom and a substantially vertical side wall and a second flavor-containing materials. The bottom and substantially vertical side wall of the third sheet is dimensioned to fit into the open upper end and the upper part of the substantially vertical side wall of the second sheet to form a second closed chamber to contain the second flavor-containing materials and to form a sealing seam between the substantially vertical side walls of the second and third sheets. By selecting the appropriate first and second flavor-containing materials, such a pod can give a blended drink. For example if the first flavor-containing materials is milk particles and the second materials is espresso grounds, latte or cappuccino can be made front the pod.
In another embodiment of the invention, the second sheet comprises a sufficiently rigid liquid-permeable plate having a side wall adapted to be received into the open top end of the first sheet and to form the sealing seam with the upper part of the side wall of the first sheet. In a further embodiment of the invention, the substantially vertical side wall of the first sheet comprises a substantially vertical lower side wall, a neck, and a substantially flat upper side wall adapted to form the sealing seam with the second sheet. The neck functions to connect the substantially flat upper side wall to the substantially vertical lower side wall of said first sheet and to make the outer perimeter of the substantially flat upper side wall about the same as or smaller than the outer perimeter of the substantially vertical lower side wall.
Another aspect of the invention is a method for using the pod to make coffee, espresso, hot chocolate, mocha, latte or the like. The method comprises placing the pod(s) into a pod holder, forming a seal between the side wall and/or sealing seam of the pod(s) and the substantially vertical side wall of the pod holder when the pod is placed into the pod holder and the sealing seam is positioned inside the substantially vertical side wall of the pod holder, mounting the pod holder to a beverage apparatus, introducing hot water to the pod and forcing the water through the flavor-containing materials to extract or dissolve the flavor-containing materials to form fluid comestible, and discharging the fluid comestible into a receptacle such as a cup. The method may further comprise a step of transforming the fluid comestible into a high-speed fluid jet, a step of injecting high-speed fluid jet into a chamber capable of accumulating a pool of fluid comestible therein for generating fine air bubbles or crema, a step of separating the relatively large air bubbles from very fine air bubbles in a separation chamber, and a step of conducting only the very fine air bubbles and the fluid comestible near the bottom of the separation chamber to an outlet for discharging into the receptacle such as a cup. The method may further comprise a step of activating a ejection mechanism to push a movable plate normally resting on the bottom of the pod holder for supporting the pod away from the bottom of the pod holder to eject the used pod from the pod holder. The mounting step in the method may comprise causing a movable press to enter the pod holder and to press onto the pod(s) therein, causing the compression of a spring attached to the movable press, and causing the pod to press against the vertical side wall and the bottom of the pod holder with the force exerted to the movable press by the spring to achieve enhanced seal between the pod and the pod holder.